What I have said generally of the militia will, I hope, prompt some one more competent to become their advocate, and bring out their merits in the way they deserve; and which none would be more willing to acknowledge than their brethren of the line, who have associated with them on all occasions in the most friendly manner, brought them into their clubs on perfect equality, and who would be glad to see the revival of the institution for the sake of old remembrance. The Navy and Army have their full share of supporters, and their good deeds have not been buried under a bushel; it is, therefore, only fair, then, to allow a portion of the meed of praise to the militia, in whose favour we might with ease paraphrase the lines of the poet,

"But all our praises why should Lords engross?

Rise, honest Muse, and sing the Man of Ross."

This subject has carried me rather beyond my intended limits, and I must postpone to a future occasion a notice of the Volunteers, and other portions of our domestic defensive force.

SKETCHES OF FOREIGN MILITARY LIFE.

A CHAPTER FROM THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN RENAUD OF THE FRENCH HUSSARS.

"How little do the people in general know of war, and of the anxious midnight hours, which we experience! while they rest as happily in their nests, as a full stomach will allow."

LORD COLLINGWOOD.

WERE I of higher grade, (said Captain Renaud, taking off his second glass of Sillery,) I might venture to say with Louis XIV., I have been too fond of war. For like others, in my boyhood, Bonaparte had quite intoxicated me with the love of glory,-in fact, it took such possession of my head, that I could find room for nothing else. My father, an old officer of rank, who passed his days in camps, I had never seen, until one fine morning, being appointed to accompany Bonaparte to Egypt, he purposed taking me with him. I was but then in my twelfth year, though I perfectly well remember the circumstances, and the enthusiasm, verging on idolatry, which the army evinced towards that wonderful and extraordinary genius which led it.

To speak allegorically, two spirits fanned our sails, that of glory and piracy; but my father was as indifferent to the latter as to the north-easterly breeze which impelled our ships, while the former resounded so frequently in my ears, that I was completely deaf to every thing else, producing much the same effect as did the sound of artillery in the ears of Charles XII., which he called his "music." These emotions produced in me a mingled sentiment of joy, and a spirit of enthusiasm, which has lasted me through life. A memorable interview decided this fatal admiration in me, to which I willingly sacrificed all else.

The fleet set sail for Egypt on the 11th of May, 1798. The spectacle being a novelty to me, I passed night and day in admiration. of the beautiful blue waters of the Mediterranean, covered with an immense fleet, amounting in all to about 400 vessels of various sizes.

Bonaparte was on board l'Orient of 120 guns. Our military line was about a league in length, while the half circle, formed by the convoy, extended to about six leagues. I was absorbed in silence, but observed the Corsica pass close by us, with the Sardinia in tow, followed by the Sicily to our left,-while the Juno, on board of which my father and myself were, led the way, as an advance guard, in company with three other frigates. As we passed along the coast of Sicily, my father shewed me Mount Etna, which was then throwing up volumes of smoke; Marsala, the ancient Lilybæum, was rendered scarcely visible, while its white houses appeared, like so many doves in the distance, penetrating a cloud.

On the 9th of June we came off Malta, the appearance of which has left an impression on my memory which will never be effaced.

There stood the renowned bulwark of Christendom before me! with its immense impregnable forts, and fortifications, bristling with cannon even to the water's edge; and its adamantine walls of dazzling whiteness, like polished marble, reflecting back the sun's meridian beams; while a thousand caiques and galleys, rowed with their red painted oars, floated around us.

The island was completely surrounded by our ships, with their enormous sails spread to the wind, which, at a given signal, hoisted their tricoloured flags of blue, red, and white, while from Goza and Fort St. Elmo, we beheld the standard of the Cross Militant waving for the last time, and which we saluted with 500 guns.

The Orient stood in advance and apart, like a huge leviathan on the deep, when the men-of-war passed her, one by one, in review order, and I was near enough to perceive Desaix salute Bonaparte from his ship. Here we went on board the Orient, and, for the first time, I beheld the Emperor !

He was looking over the ship's side, engaged in conversation with Casa Bianca, Commander of the unfortunate ship, and was playfully passing his hands through the beautiful curling hair of an interesting little boy, about ten years old,—this was the ill-fated Captain's son. I remember becoming immediately jealous of this protégé, while my heart bounded within me when I saw him touch the General's sword. My father now advanced towards Bonaparte, and remained some time in conversation with him, of whom I had not obtained a fair view,— all at once, he turned round, and looked me full in the face. I confess it was a glance which made me tremble in all my limbs, and my spirit of curiosity very soon evaporated at the sight of his sallow countenance, overshadowed by his long flowing hair, hanging in a most careless manner over his shoulders, looking for all the world as if he had just emerged from the sea; he had large expressive grey eyes, sunken cheeks, with lips curling over his pointed chin; these were my first impressions, and, I believe, correct ones of him at that period of his fortunes. He had evidently been speaking of me, for I heard him say, "Listen, my dear fellow, since you wish it, you shall accompany me to Egypt, while General Vaubois can very well remain here without you, with his 4000 men. I however must frankly tell you, I do not like the idea of taking children with us, and I confess I have done very wrong in allowing Casa Bianca to do so. You must send this little fellow of yours back to France, I'll make a good mathematician of him, and should any thing

befall you in the interim, I'll provide for him myself; that is, if I survive, I'll bring him up and make a good soldier of him:" saying which, Bonaparte stooped down, took me in his arms, and kissed my forehead. This upset me quite, and I felt as if his magic influence had already won me from my father, who had seldom seen me, from his having been always with the army.

From this moment, all my thoughts were for soldiering. I now quitted my father, and for ever! I pursued my destiny; night and day I studied classical and military literature, spurred on with an emulous and ambitious hope, that I too, would, like my father, follow in the footsteps of the most renowned warrior of the age, and like him rise to an enviable rank in the career of arms. In the midst of my horoscope, came the astounding intelligence of the conquest of Egypt-Marengoand the Empire-with its immortal Emperor! As to my father, I no longer knew what had become of him, until I one day received a letter, which we will now peruse. I always keep it in this old pocket-book, which once was red, and often do I muse over it, to convince me of the inutility of the example which a generation gives to its succeeding one, and lead me to reflect well, on the absurd illusions which influenced my headstrong and wild impetuosity. Here the Captain, unbuttoning his uniform, drew forth the precious document from his breast pocket, which, on carefully opening, he read as follows:

"On board the English ship Culloden, before Rochefort, 1804. "Sent to France with Admiral Collingwood's permission. "It is useless, my son, that I should acquaint you how this letter is conveyed to you, and by what means I have been made acquainted with your present position, and line of your conduct, suffice it to say, that I am much pleased with you, although, perhaps, I may never see you more. From our little intercourse this may be a matter of indifference to you, as you knew me only at an age ere memory is awakened, or the heart fully matured. On this point, my son, you are not worse than others. I shall therefore frankly tell you, that I have been a prisoner in the hands of the English ever since the 14 Thermidor of the year 6, or to use the old style (which they say is coming into fashion again), August 2, 1798.

"I had gone on board the Admiral's ship l'Orient to persuade the brave Brueys to make sail for Corfu. Bonaparte had already sent me his Aide-deCamp Julien, who was fool enough to allow the Arabs to walk off with him, while admiring antiquities. I arrived, however, but without avail, for I found Brueys as stubborn as a mule. He told me, he was looking out for the passage, to enable his ships to enter the harbour of Alexandria; muttering something in a haughty tone to himself, by which I very soon saw he was not a little jealous of the army. "What, do you take us for mere water carriers?' said he, or think you we are afraid of the English?' It would have been better for France, perhaps, if we had been so. Poor fellow! if he committed faults, most gloriously has he atoned for them. I was on board when he was attacked. The Admiral was first wounded in the head and hand, but bravely continued the fight, till a cannon-ball fairly cut him through. He then commanded the sailors to put him into a sack of bran, and died like a hero on his quarter-deck!

"Towards ten o'clock, we clearly saw we should eventually be blown up. What remained of the crew now took to the boats, and saved themselves, with the exception of Casa Bianca, for he had already made known his intention of remaining to the last, while his son, a beautiful boy (the same you saw when we were off Malta), came up to me, saying: Citizen, what does honour now require of me?' Poor child, but ten years old, and talking

of honour, and at such a moment too! I took him on my knee in the boat, and prevented his seeing the heart-rending spectacle of his father's death; the Orient was scattered in the air like a rocket.

"We were not blown up, or I should not be here to write this, but we were, as you will now perceive, taken and conveyed to Dover, in charge of a brave Captain of the English Navy, by name Collingwood, now in command of the Culloden; if ever there was a gallant fellow he is one, who, since the year 1761, when he first entered the Navy, has with one or two exceptions*, never quitted the sea. His children, of whom he is always speaking, hardly know him†; while, save by his letters, his wife must be totally ignorant of his noble qualities. But to return to myself. I fear that grief for our disasters at Aboukir has shortened my days, already too wearisome, since I witnessed that calamity, and beheld the death of my brave and glorious friends. My great age has sensibly affected everybody here for me; and as the climate of England brought on a troublesome cough, and reopened all my wounds, to the extent that I have wholly lost the use of an arm, the kind Capt. Collingwood has requested, and obtained permission (which he could never do for himself), for my being transferred to Sicily, to enjoy the benefit of a warmer sun and purer sky.

"Methinks it will be my last resting-place, and that I shall there finish my earthly career. What with seventy-eight years of age, seven wounds, and my deep heart-breaking afflictions, and captivity, I feel these are diseases for which there is no remedy. I have only my sword to bequeath to you, my poor boy,-and at present I have not even that; for, as a prisoner, I am deprived of it. I have, however, one advice to give you-mistrust and curb your ardent enthusiasm for those men who rise rapidly to promotion and fortune, and, above all, for Bonaparte; for from what I know of you, you would become a Seide; but a Frenchman should guard against Seidism -it is a contagious evil, of which, I fear, you are too susceptible.

"It is astonishing what thousands of petty, aye, and great tyrants such principles have produced. We are mightily given to bombast, in an extravagant degree, until we at last burn our fingers! The source of this great evil in us arises from a restless desire of action, and a great want of reflection. Hence it happens that we are ever so ready to surrender up body and soul to him who takes the responsibility upon himself, thinking and acting for us until we afterwards become the dupes of his duplicity.

"Bonaparte is, as the world goes, bon enfant:' but he is not the less a bit of a charlatan, and I much fear he will one day originate among us a new school of quackery, although, Heaven knows, we have already quite enough. in France. This quackery, or humbug as the English call it, is a corrupt imposition, of which so many examples have been afforded us in this our own age, that no profession is exempt from it more or less.

* Lord Collingwood married in 1790, came home in the beginning of 1799, and left England in May of the same year; came home at the peace of Amiens in 1802, went out in 1803, and never more returned, and died on board ship on the 7th of March, 1810, in his fifty-ninth year.

† Lord Collingwood thus wrote to his father-in-law :-" My daughters never have been to me what yours have been, whose affections have been nurtured by daily acts of kindness. They may be told that it is a duty to regard me; but it is not reasonable to expect, that they should have the same feelings for a person of whom they have only heard."

Had the old warrior lived to the Restoration, in 1815, he would have witnessed a fine sample of this school of quackery or humbug in Augereau, Duke of Castiglione, Grand Cross, &c., &c., &c. Augereau was born in 1757; he was the son of a poor industrious labouring mason of Paris, where his mother sold fruit. Anxious to become a soldier, he entered the regiment of Bourgoyne cavalry, from which in a few months he was dismissed for crime, with a yellow cartridge, as a mark of disgrace. He afterwards entered "La .Carolinas," commanded by the Marquis de U. S. MAG., No. 198, MAY, 1845.

I

"The numbers of unfortunate dupes who perish from it is incredible,— hence, I pray, my son, that you may escape its pernicious and deadly influence. "I, however, feel happy that Bonaparte has kept his faith in taking charge of you, as he had promised; but be aware of him. When we were in Egypt, the following incident occurred at a dinner there, and it is my earnest wish you should impress it on your memory, as the anecdote is worthy of the man.

"In the autumn of 1791, Bonaparte, being at Cairo, after the formation of the Institute, ordered a civic feast to be prepared in commemoration of

Poyaume, from which regiment he deserted with his Captain's horses, and sold them in Switzerland, where he set up as a fencing master. Thus much for his roguery.

As a fencing master he won the patronage of a greater rogue, Talleyrand, whose sons he taught. In 1792 he joined a volunteer battalion, which invaded La Vendée at the Revolution, and which he afterwards commanded. He then, as AdjutantGeneral, joined the army of the Pyrenees, and distinguished himself at Bellegarde and Figueras.

1794, he became General of Division, and joined the army of Italy with 12,000, and gained the battle of Lonato. 1796 he forced the defiles of Millesimo, surrounded and captured a division, with its Chief, Provero. His noblest feats of arms, which proclaimed him a hero, were at Castiglione, where, after Napoleon himself had abandoned his siege artillery (before Mantua), and was about retreating behind the Adda, Augereau remonstrated with him, and fought and won the famous battle of Castiglione, for which Bonaparte gave him the title of Duke. It was after this battle that Wurmser wrote to his Government, "I shall be compelled to fly again to-morrow-after to-morrow-every day—even into Siberia-should these devils of Frenchmen take it into their heads to follow me there." But Arcole was his crowning glory, where, seizing a standard, he rushed across the bridge, and led the road to victory. For this act of heroism, the Legislative Assembly, by a decree, presented him with the standard, as an heirloom to his family, and in commemoration of the

event.

In 1797, Augereau entered Paris at the head of the troops, and when he seized Pichegru, accused of treason, he tore the epaulettes off the shoulders of Ramel, who commanded the guard. Augereau was the hero of Hohenlinden.

Augereau boasted of his republican principles; this, however, was all quackery; for in 1804, he with pride accepted, and was one of the first to accept, the baton of Marshal from the Emperor, whom he had called "an ambitious man," and who, unlike him," was neither a frank republican nor true patriot." Independent of this he accepted the Grand Cross of the Order of Charles II., from the King of Spain.

1805, he commanded a corps d'armée on the Rhine.

1806-the same against the Russians, and was engaged in the battle of Jena, and in Poland. While at Eylau, he, though suffering severely from sickness, had himself strapped on his horse, and in this manner fought the battle, in which he was severely wounded, and compelled to give up the command.

1809, he was engaged in the campaign of Spain; but, from his want of success, was replaced by Macdonald. 1812, he was employed in the invasion of Russia.

After the disastrous battle of Leipsig, called the "battle of nations," which led to the Emperor's abdication, Augereau basely deserted him, and issued a proclamation, in which were the following memorable words: " By his abdication, after having immolated millions of victims to his ambition, he has proved to the world that he had not the courage to die the death of a soldier!"

In March following 1815, his master returned, when the fawning sycophant Augereau sought his favour; but Napoleon spurned him, and in his proclamation, said, We were not conquered; but it is that two traitors deserted from our ranks, and tarnished our laurels-Augereau and Marmont!" Augereau was not only indignantly repelled by Napoleon, but even Louis XVIII., who, at the first restoration, in 1814, had rewarded his defection with a command, and the Order of St. Louis, on his second restoration, after the battle of Waterloo, dismissed him with disgrace, when he retired to his Chateau of Houssaye, and there died in obscurity. Augereau has been compared to Marius, for his intrepidity, the lowness of his origin, and the licentiousness of his manners.